Aptamer/magnetic nanoparticles decorated with fluorescent gold nanoclusters for selective detection and collection of human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells from a mixture

Aptamer-Magnetic Nanoparticle Complexes for Powerful Biosensing: A Comprehensive Review

The selective and sensitive diagnosis of diseases is a significant matter in the early stages of the cure of illnesses. To elaborate, although several types of probes have been broadly applied in clinics, magnetic nanomaterials-aptamers, as new-generation probes, are becoming more and more attractive. The presence of magnetic nanomaterials brings about quantification, purification, and quantitative analysis of biomedical, especially in complex samples. Elaborately, the superparamagnetic properties and numerous functionalized groups of magnetic nanomaterials are considered two main matters for providing separation ability and immobilization substrate, respectively. In addition, the selectivity and stability of aptamer can present a high potential recognition element. Importantly, the integration of aptamer and magnetic nanomaterials benefits can boost the performance of biosensors for biomedical analysis by introducing efficient and compact probes that need low patient samples and fast diagnosis, user-friendly application, and high repeatability in the quantification of biomolecules. The primary aim of this review is to suggest a summary of the effect of the employed other types of nanomaterials in the fabrication of novel aptasensors-based magnetic nanomaterials and to carefully explore various applications of these probes in the quantification of bioagents. Furthermore, the application of these versatile and high-potential probes in terms of the detection of cancer cells and biomarkers, proteins, drugs, bacteria, and nucleoside were discussed. Besides, research gaps and restrictions in the field of biomedical analysis by magnetic nanomaterials-aptamers will be discussed.

Nanotechnology in leukemia: diagnosis, efficient-targeted drug delivery, and clinical trials

Leukemia is a group of malignant disorders which affect the blood and blood-forming tissues in the bone marrow, lymphatic system, and spleen. Many types of leukemia exist; thus, their diagnosis and treatment are somewhat complicated. The use of conventional strategies for treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy may develop many side effects and toxicity. Hence, modern research is concerned with the development of specific nano-formulations for targeted delivery of anti-leukemic drugs avoiding toxic effects on normal cells. Nanostructures can be applied not only in treatment but also in diagnosis. In this article, types of leukemia, its causes, diagnosis as well as conventional treatment of leukemia shall be reviewed. Then, the use of nanoparticles in diagnosis of leukemia and synthesis of nanocarriers for efficient delivery of anti-leukemia drugs being investigated in in vivo and clinical studies. Therefore, it may contribute to the discovery of novel and emerging nanoparticles for targeted treatment of leukemia with less side effects and toxicities.

Nanotechnology in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Traditional cancer diagnosis has been aided by the application of nanoparticles (NPs), which have made the process easier and faster. NPs possess exceptional properties such as a larger surface area, higher volume proportion, and better targeting capabilities. Additionally, their low toxic effect on healthy cells enhances their bioavailability and t-half by allowing them to functionally penetrate the fenestration of epithelium and tissues. These particles have attracted attention in multidisciplinary areas, making them the most promising materials in many biomedical applications, especially in the treatment and diagnosis of various diseases. Today, many drugs are presented or coated with nanoparticles for the direct targeting of tumors or diseased organs without harming normal tissues/cells. Many types of nanoparticles, such as metallic, magnetic, polymeric, metal oxide, quantum dots, graphene, fullerene, liposomes, carbon nanotubes, and dendrimers, have potential applications in cancer treatment and diagnosis. In many studies, nanoparticles have been reported to show intrinsic anticancer activity due to their antioxidant action and cause an inhibitory effect on the growth of tumors. Moreover, nanoparticles can facilitate the controlled release of drugs and increase drug release efficiency with fewer side effects. Nanomaterials such as microbubbles are used as molecular imaging agents for ultrasound imaging. This review discusses the various types of nanoparticles that are commonly used in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Binary Nanodrug-Delivery System Designed for Leukemia Therapy: Aptamer- and Transferrin-Codecorated Daunorubicin- and Luteolin-Coloaded Nanoparticles

Objective

This study aimed to develop a binary nanodrug-delivery system decorated with aptamers (APs) and transferrin (Tf) and loaded with daunorubicin (Drn) and luteolin (Lut) for the treatment of leukemia.

Methods

Oligonucleotide AP- and Tf-contaiing ligands were designed and synthesized separately. AP-decorated Drn-loaded nanoparticles (AP-Drn NPs) and Tf-Lut NPs were prepared by self-assembly. An AP- and Tf-codecorated Drn- and Lut-coloaded nanodrug-delivery system (AP/Tf-Drn/Lut NPs) was prepared by self-assembly of AP-Drn NPs and Tf-Lut NPs. In vitro and in vivo efficiency of the system was evaluated on leukemia cell line and cell-bearing mouse model in comparison with single ligand-decorated, single drug-loaded and free-drug formulations.

Results

AP/Tf-Drn/Lut NPs were spherical and nanosized (187.3±5.3 nm) and loaded with about 85% of drugs. In vitro cytotoxicity of AP/Tf-Drn/Lut NPs was remarkably higher than single ligand-decorated ones. Double drug-loaded AP/Tf-Drn/Lut NPs exhibited higher tumor-cell inhibition than single drug-loaded ones, which showed a synergic effect of the two drugs. AP/Tf-Drn/Lut NPs achieved the most efficient antileukemic activity and absence of toxicity in vivo.

Conclusion

The present study showed that AP/Tf-Drn/Lut NPs are a promising drug-delivery system for targeted treatment of leukemia, due to the synergic effect of the two drugs in this system. The limitations of this system include stability during large-scale production and application from bench to bedside.

Theranostic Potentials of Gold Nanomaterials in Hematological Malignancies

Simple Summary

Hematological malignancies (HMs) cover 50% of all malignancies, and people of all ages can be affected by these deadly diseases. In many cases, conventional diagnostic tools fail to diagnose HMs at an early stage, due to heterogeneity and the long-term indolent phase of HMs. Therefore, many patients start their treatment at the late stage of HMs and have poor survival. Gold nanomaterials (GNMs) have shown promise as a cancer theranostic agent. GNMs are 1 nm to 100 nm materials having magnetic resonance and surface-plasmon-resonance properties. GNMs conjugated with antibodies, nucleic acids, peptides, photosensitizers, chemotherapeutic drugs, synthetic-drug candidates, bioactive compounds, and other theranostic biomolecules may enhance the efficacy and efficiency of both traditional and advanced theranostic approaches to combat HMs.

Abstract

Hematological malignancies (HMs) are a heterogeneous group of blood neoplasia generally characterized by abnormal blood-cell production. Detection of HMs-specific molecular biomarkers (e.g., surface antigens, nucleic acid, and proteomic biomarkers) is crucial in determining clinical states and monitoring disease progression. Early diagnosis of HMs, followed by an effective treatment, can remarkably extend overall survival of patients. However, traditional and advanced HMs’ diagnostic strategies still lack selectivity and sensitivity. More importantly, commercially available chemotherapeutic drugs are losing their efficacy due to adverse effects, and many patients develop resistance against these drugs. To overcome these limitations, the development of novel potent and reliable theranostic agents is urgently needed to diagnose and combat HMs at an early stage. Recently, gold nanomaterials (GNMs) have shown promise in the diagnosis and treatment of HMs. Magnetic resonance and the surface-plasmon-resonance properties of GNMs have made them a suitable candidate in the diagnosis of HMs via magnetic-resonance imaging and colorimetric or electrochemical sensing of cancer-specific biomarkers. Furthermore, GNMs-based photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, radiation therapy, and targeted drug delivery enhanced the selectivity and efficacy of anticancer drugs or drug candidates. Therefore, surface-tuned GNMs could be used as sensitive, reliable, and accurate early HMs, metastatic HMs, and MRD-detection tools, as well as selective, potent anticancer agents. However, GNMs may induce endothelial leakage to exacerbate cancer metastasis. Studies using clinical patient samples, patient-derived HMs models, or healthy-animal models could give a precise idea about their theranostic potential as well as biocompatibility. The present review will investigate the theranostic potential of vectorized GNMs in HMs and future challenges before clinical theranostic applications in HMs.

Basic Principles and Recent Advances in Magnetic Cell Separation

Magnetic cell separation has become a key methodology for the isolation of target cell populations from biological suspensions, covering a wide spectrum of applications from diagnosis and therapy in biomedicine to environmental applications or fundamental research in biology. There now exists a great variety of commercially available separation instruments and reagents, which has permitted rapid dissemination of the technology. However, there is still an increasing demand for new tools and protocols which provide improved selectivity, yield and sensitivity of the separation process while reducing cost and providing a faster response. This review aims to introduce basic principles of magnetic cell separation for the neophyte, while giving an overview of recent research in the field, from the development of new cell labeling strategies to the design of integrated microfluidic cell sorters and of point-of-care platforms combining cell selection, capture, and downstream detection. Finally, we focus on clinical, industrial and environmental applications where magnetic cell separation strategies are amongst the most promising techniques to address the challenges of isolating rare cells.

Evaluation of the Biological Activity of Folic Acid-Modified Paclitaxel-Loaded Gold Nanoparticles

Purpose

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with good physical and biological properties are often used in medicine, diagnostics, food, and similar industries. This paper explored an AuNPs drug delivery system that had good target selectivity for folate-receptor overexpressing cells to induce apoptosis.

Methods

A novel drug delivery system, Au@MPA-PEG-FA-PTX, was developed carrying paclitaxel (PTX) on folic acid (FA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified AuNPs. The nanomaterial was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). Also, the biological activity of the AuNPs drug delivery system was examined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay in HL-7702, Hela, SMMC-7721, and HCT-116 cells. Furthermore, apoptotic activity using annexin V-FITC, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels was estimated by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy.

Results

Au@MPA-PEG-FA-PTX exhibited a distinct core-shell structure with a controllable size of 28±1 nm. Also, the AuNPs maintained good dispersion and spherical shape uniformity before and after modification. The MTT assay revealed good antitumor activity of the Au@MPA-PEG-FA-PTX against the Hela, SMMC-7721, and HCT-116 cells, while Au@MPA-PEG-FA-PTX produced better pharmacological effects than PTX in isolation. Further mechanistic investigation revealed that effective internalization of AuNPs by folate-receptor overexpressing cancer cells induced cell apoptosis through excessive production of intracellular ROS.

Conclusion

The AuNPs drug delivery system showed good target selectivity for folate-receptor overexpressing cancer cells to induce target cell-specific apoptosis. These AuNPs may have great potential as theranostic agents such as in cancer.

Radiomics, aptamers and nanobodies: New insights in cancer diagnostics and imaging

At present, cancer is a major health issue and the second leading cause of mortality worldwide. Researchers have been working hard on investigating not only improved therapeutics but also on early detection methods, both critical to increasing treatment efficacy and developing methods for disease prevention. Diagnosis of cancers at an early stage can promote timely medical intervention and effective treatment and will result in inhibiting tumor growth and development. Several advances have been made in the diagnostics and imagining technologies for early tumor detection and deciding an effective therapy these include radiomics, nanobodies, and aptamers. Here in this review, we summarize the main applications of radiomics, aptamers, and the use of nanobody-based probes for molecular imaging applications in diagnosis, treatment planning, and evaluations in the field of oncology to develop quantitative and personalized medicine. The preclinical data reported to date are quite promising, and it is predicted that nanobody-based molecular imaging agents will play an important role in the diagnosis and management of different cancer types in near future.

Nanotechnology in Tumor Biomarker Detection: The Potential of Liganded Nanoclusters as Nonlinear Optical Contrast Agents for Molecular Diagnostics of Cancer

Cancer is one of the leading causes of premature death, and, as such, it can be prevented by developing strategies for early and accurate diagnosis. Cancer diagnostics has evolved from the macroscopic detection of malignant tissues to the fine analysis of tumor biomarkers using personalized medicine approaches. Recently, various nanomaterials have been introduced into the molecular diagnostics of cancer. This has resulted in a number of tumor biomarkers that have been detected in vitro and in vivo using nanodevices and corresponding imaging techniques. Atomically precise ligand-protected noble metal quantum nanoclusters represent an interesting class of nanomaterials with a great potential for the detection of tumor biomarkers. They are characterized by high biocompatibility, low toxicity, and suitability for controlled functionalization with moieties specifically recognizing tumor biomarkers. Their non-linear optical properties are of particular importance as they enable the visualization of nanocluster-labeled tumor biomarkers using non-linear optical techniques such as two-photon-excited fluorescence and second harmonic generation. This article reviews liganded nanoclusters among the different nanomaterials used for molecular cancer diagnosis and the relevance of this new class of nanomaterials as non-linear optical probe and contrast agents.

Human Cancer Cell Membrane-Cloaked Fe3O4 Nanocubes for Homologous Targeting Improvement

Surface modification of nanoparticles with cellular protein components is a new biomimetic modification strategy, which utilizes the inherent affinity between homologous cells to introduce the same surface molecules into nanoparticles to improve the targeting performance. In this study, oleic acid (OA)-coated Fe₃O₄ nanocubes were prepared by a high-temperature thermal decomposition method and modified by 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylpropionic acid (DHCA); then, HeLa cell membranes were introduced onto the surface of the nanocubes through mixed coextrusion to try to endow them with the targeting function of natural cells. The results show that the prepared Fe₃O₄ nanocubes have high monodispersity, excellent water solubility, and biocompatibility. Moreover, the Fe₃O₄ nanocubes encapsulated by cellular protein show an obvious core-shell structure and the specific targeting property to HeLa cells is improved significantly, which is expected to be used in clinical targeted diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Application and development of aptamer in cancer: from clinical diagnosis to cancer therapy

Traditional anticancer therapies can cause serious side effects in clinical treatment due to their nonspecific of tumor cells. Aptamers, also termed as 'chemical antibodies', are short DNA or RNA oligonucleotides selected from the synthetic large random single-strand oligonucleotide library by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) to bind to lots of different targets, such as proteins or nucleic acid structures. Aptamers have good affinities and high specificity with target molecules, thus may be able to act as drugs themselves to directly inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells, or own great potentialities in the targeted drug delivery systems which can be used in tumor diagnosis and target specific tumor cells, thereby minimizing the toxicity to normal cells. Here we review the unique properties of aptamer represents a great opportunity when applied to the rapidly developing fields of biotechnology and discuss the recent developments in the use of aptamers as powerful tools for analytic, diagnostic and therapeutic applications for cancer.

Aptamer-Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles Targeting Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Variant III for the Treatment of Glioblastoma

Purpose

In this study, we constructed novel brain-targeting complexes (U2-AuNP) by conjugating aptamer U2 to the gold nanoparticle (AuNPs) surface as a promising option for GBM therapy.

Materials and Methods

The properties of the U2-AuNP complexes were thoroughly characterized. Then, we detected the in vitro effects of U2-AuNP in U87-EGFRvIII cell lines and the in vivo antitumor effects of U2-AuNP in GBM-bearing mice. Furthermore, we explored the inhibition mechanism of U2-AuNP in U87-EGFRvIII cell lines.

Results

We found that U2-AuNP inhibits the proliferation and invasion of U87-EGFRvIII cell lines and prolongs the survival time of GBM-bearing mice. We found that U2-AuNP can inhibit the EGFR-related pathway and prevent DNA damage repair in GBM cells.

Conclusion

These results reveal the promising potential of U2-AuNP as a drug candidate for targeted therapy in GBM.

Advances of aptamers screened by Cell-SELEX in selection procedure, cancer diagnostics and therapeutics

Aptamers are a class of short artificial single-stranded oligo(deoxy) nucleotides that can bind to different targets, which generated by Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX). Due to excellent selectivity and high affinity to targets, aptamers hold considerable potential as molecular probe in diverse applications ranging from ensuring food safety, monitoring environment, disease diagnosis to therapy. This review highlights recent development and challenges about aptamers screened by Cell-SELEX, and its application about cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. Advances about some operation methods such as seperation method and culture method in aptamers selection procedure were summarized in this paper. Some common challenges and technological difficulties such as nonspecific binding and biostability were discussed. Up to now, the recent endeavors about cancer diagnostic and therapeutic applications of aptamers are summarized and expatiated. Most of aptamers screened by Cell-SELEX took tumor cells as target cells, and such aptamers have been assembled to various aptasensor for cancer diagnosis. Aptamers conjugated various drugs or nanomaterials are functioned for cancer target therapy to improve drugs delivery efficiency and reduce side effects. Furthermore, the duplexed aptamer is discussed to be applied for cancer cells detection and some conflicts of theories about duplexed aptamer designs are analyzed.